MediEvil Resurrection
PSP review by Cid SilverWing
Back with a vengeance! And in more ways than one, literally.
I recently bought meself a PSP solely because I wanted to check out the ?Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions? remake (which didn?t get onto the shipping before half an hour ago and I ordered the friggin? game last Saturday from Amazon.com).
So while I wait I decided to try out other PSP games, one of them being MediEvil Resurrection.
Normally I condemn all attempts at resurrecting old franchises that are better off left dead, frankly because of my contempt for sufferers of the moneymilker virus. But then comes this gem that pulls it off so greatly you can?t hate on it!
I?ll start by summarizing this 3D hack'n-slash platformer/puzzle hybrid game's conceptual plot independent of the PS1 and PSP versions:
Daniel Fortesque was a real braggart and thus earned himself an honorary position in the local guard of Gallowmere, knighted by King Peregrin. The necromancer Zarok, who had long been exiled from Peregrin?s castle for meddling with the dead returns with a massive army of the undead and demonic, and Sir Fortesque is chosen to lead the charge against Zarok. As poetic justice would have it, Fortesque fell to a stray arrow during the very first charge and died instantly, leaving his troops to finish the battle. Peregrin was embarrassed by Fortesque?s incompetence and thus told the public a skewed version of what happened: Daniel got struck in the eye (true) while battling Zarok, but managed to land a killing blow with his dying breath (lie). A hero?s crypt was erected in honor of this false captain and he was celebrated for 100 years as the ?Hero of Gallowmere.?
In reality, Zarok escaped, and then 100 years later after the battle on the day, he returns to re-raise the dead and capture the souls of the living, unknowingly re-raising Daniel at the same time. Sir Fortesque takes advantage of his new unlife to live up to the legend and defeat Zarok once and for all, in which he succeeded.
Diving right into the differences between the PS1 and PSP versions the second I turned on the game I was quite stunned by how much they changed the game. Primarily the PSP version had its original gothic and dark tone killed by an almost Disney-fied sense of humor, appropriately upgraded graphics and ? as what happens with every remake I?m sure ? brand new weapons for the player. But hand in hand with new weaponry come also new side-quests to complete in order to advance the main quest. *resounding sigh*
But I take it all with good grace. This is one resurrection that was pulled off in such a way that you can?t criticize it enough. The humor is acceptable (if but a little immature, sometimes even sexual, at times), the controls are responsive (but lack of camera control forces you to resort to a snap-reset button for that), and the level designs are intricate and lively.
Quite worth it if you enjoy updated games, although the dramatic change in tone may disappoint fans of the PS1 version.
PSP review by Cid SilverWing
Back with a vengeance! And in more ways than one, literally.
I recently bought meself a PSP solely because I wanted to check out the ?Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions? remake (which didn?t get onto the shipping before half an hour ago and I ordered the friggin? game last Saturday from Amazon.com).
So while I wait I decided to try out other PSP games, one of them being MediEvil Resurrection.
Normally I condemn all attempts at resurrecting old franchises that are better off left dead, frankly because of my contempt for sufferers of the moneymilker virus. But then comes this gem that pulls it off so greatly you can?t hate on it!
I?ll start by summarizing this 3D hack'n-slash platformer/puzzle hybrid game's conceptual plot independent of the PS1 and PSP versions:
Daniel Fortesque was a real braggart and thus earned himself an honorary position in the local guard of Gallowmere, knighted by King Peregrin. The necromancer Zarok, who had long been exiled from Peregrin?s castle for meddling with the dead returns with a massive army of the undead and demonic, and Sir Fortesque is chosen to lead the charge against Zarok. As poetic justice would have it, Fortesque fell to a stray arrow during the very first charge and died instantly, leaving his troops to finish the battle. Peregrin was embarrassed by Fortesque?s incompetence and thus told the public a skewed version of what happened: Daniel got struck in the eye (true) while battling Zarok, but managed to land a killing blow with his dying breath (lie). A hero?s crypt was erected in honor of this false captain and he was celebrated for 100 years as the ?Hero of Gallowmere.?
In reality, Zarok escaped, and then 100 years later after the battle on the day, he returns to re-raise the dead and capture the souls of the living, unknowingly re-raising Daniel at the same time. Sir Fortesque takes advantage of his new unlife to live up to the legend and defeat Zarok once and for all, in which he succeeded.
Diving right into the differences between the PS1 and PSP versions the second I turned on the game I was quite stunned by how much they changed the game. Primarily the PSP version had its original gothic and dark tone killed by an almost Disney-fied sense of humor, appropriately upgraded graphics and ? as what happens with every remake I?m sure ? brand new weapons for the player. But hand in hand with new weaponry come also new side-quests to complete in order to advance the main quest. *resounding sigh*
But I take it all with good grace. This is one resurrection that was pulled off in such a way that you can?t criticize it enough. The humor is acceptable (if but a little immature, sometimes even sexual, at times), the controls are responsive (but lack of camera control forces you to resort to a snap-reset button for that), and the level designs are intricate and lively.
Quite worth it if you enjoy updated games, although the dramatic change in tone may disappoint fans of the PS1 version.
